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9699/23
SOCIOLOGY
Paper 2 Principles and Methods 2
May/June 2012
1 hour 30 minutes
Candidates answer on the Question Paper.
No additional materials are required.
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST
Write your Centre number, candidate number and name on all the work you hand in.
Write in dark blue or black pen.
You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working.
Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid.
DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES.
Answer two questions.
You may not need all the answer lines for your answer.
The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.
This document consists of 13 printed pages and 3 blank pages.
DC (RW) 47227/1
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UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS
General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary Level and Advanced Level
2
Answer two questions.
1
When a group of people establish a way of life in which there are shared norms and values
their behaviour and morality is described as their culture. A culture will include language,
dress, food, material goods, skills and knowledge. More importantly perhaps, it will also
include beliefs and ideas about appropriate forms of behaviour. The national culture of a
country may be described as the pattern of conduct and beliefs that is shared by most or
all of the population. However, there may be differences between the behaviour and thought
processes of groups within any single country based on such factors as class, gender, age
and ethnicity. Some sociologists think that cultural differences between countries and groups
in modern industrial societies are disappearing due to the impact of globalisation.
The term community is sometimes used to describe all the people that share a similar
culture, but it usually refers to a closer sense of identification between individuals in terms
of co-operation and a sense of belonging. The idea of community is very important in
understanding traditional rural societies where kinship ties and religion bind people together
in a way of life that is slow to change and involves close relations with neighbours and family
members. Industrialisation led to the breakdown of close-knit rural communities and their
replacement by an urban way of life in which relations between people are more impersonal
and there is greater individual freedom.
(a) What is meant by the term globalisation?
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(b) Describe two characteristics that are common to most national cultures.
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(c) Explain why there may be greater individual freedom in societies based on an urban
way of life.
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(d) Assess the extent to which cultural differences are disappearing in modern industrial
societies.
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2
Much sociological research involves asking people questions using either questionnaires or
interviews. Sociologists may also conduct research by using observation techniques, which
involve watching and listening to the group under study and recording what is observed
over time. There are two types of observation: participant observation and non-participant
observation. Both types of observation can be carried out covertly or overtly.
In participant observation the researcher becomes part of the group that is to be studied.
By taking part in the day-to-day activities of the group, the researcher can acquire a deeper
understanding than would be possible using other research methods. However, it may be
difficult to gain acceptance by the group to be studied. Participant observation may also give
rise to ethical and legal problems. For these reasons, it may be preferable for the researcher
to observe the group’s activities without taking part in them. This is known as non-participant
observation. Objectivity may be easier to achieve with non-participant observation than with
participant observation.
(a) What is meant by the term objectivity in sociological research?
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(b) Describe two reasons why the participant observer may find difficulty in gaining
acceptance by the study group.
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(c) Explain why objectivity may be easier to achieve with non-participant observation than
with participant observation.
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(d) Assess the view that ethical issues are the major limitation in using covert participant
observation.
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3
Writing in the nineteenth century, Karl Marx claimed that the capitalist economic system gave
rise to two main social classes, which he named the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Marx
recognised that other classes existed, but he believed that they would gradually be absorbed
into the two main classes as capitalism developed. This led Marx to predict that there would
be an increasing polarisation of society between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Critics
of Marx argue that rather than becoming polarised, social classes have become more
fragmented since the nineteenth century.
By the time Max Weber was writing in the early twentieth century, a large middle class had
emerged in capitalist societies. This led Weber to reject Marx’s two class model of society.
Weber actually identified four social classes: manual workers, petty bourgeoisie, professionals
and property owners. But he distanced himself from Marx’s economic determinism by
arguing that there are many other divisions in society apart from those based on social class.
Status divisions and power groupings are two other forms of social stratification that Weber
emphasised.
(a) What is meant by the term economic determinism?
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(b) Describe two examples of status divisions.
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(c) Explain the main divisions within the working class today.
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(d) Assess how far the ownership of property continues to be the main source of power in
modern industrial societies.
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University of Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of
Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.
© UCLES 2012
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